Clare Daly (Dublin Fingal, Independent)
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66. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality if a company (details supplied) tendered for the contract for towing services for Dublin region gardaí in March 2016; and if the 36 month contract granted to this company in March 2013 was thus renewed. [19020/16]

Clare Daly (Dublin Fingal, Independent)
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67. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality her views on the charges companies who hold contracts for towing and storage services for An Garda Síochána charge; and if any of these fees revert to the State. [19021/16]

Clare Daly (Dublin Fingal, Independent)
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68. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality the procedures An Garda Síochána has in place in respect of recovering the cost of unpaid storage fees for cars that have been towed away. [19022/16]

Clare Daly (Dublin Fingal, Independent)
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69. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality to request An Garda Commissioner to provide details of the safeguards An Garda Síochána has in place in respect of private information it holds in respect of persons whose vehicles have been towed and put into storage. [19023/16]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 66 to 69, inclusive, together.

As the Deputy will appreciate, I, as Minister, have no function in relation to contractual arrangements entered into by an Garda Síochána with third parties. I am informed by the Garda authorities that towing management contracts are advertised to the market by the Office of Government Procurement (OGP) to provide an outsourced solution to assist An Garda Síochána in recovering, storing and the associated administrative work in managing seized vehicles.

I am further informed that there are six towing contracts in place in the Dublin Metropolitan Region. These contracts were awarded following the appropriate tender processes, including advertising in the EU Official Journals (OJEU). The most recent DMR tender was for Dublin West and it was put in place by the OGP following an OJEU tender process in 2015. The previous contract, which was held by Gannon City Recovery, was extended to 6 March 2016 to facilitate the OGP tender process. The new contract commenced on 7 March 2016 and expires on 6 March 2017. It can be extended on a yearly basis up to a maximum of four years. The contractor is Gannon City Recovery.

No maximum prices are set by the OGP/An Garda Síochána in relation to daily storage of vehicles that have been seized. This is a matter for the contractor concerned. The onus is on owners to reclaim their vehicles once they are cleared by An Garda Síochána, thus minimising any additional charges that they might incur.

With regard to the Deputy's query in relation to private information held by An Garda Síochána, the Deputy will be aware that An Garda Síochána is subject to the provisions of Data Protection legislation and has a comprehensive code of practice in place in this regard.